Big stripers are caught every year up and down the coast on all kinds of tackle using all kinds of methods. However, if you want to maximize your chances for a striper over 40 inches, then the 3-way rig is the way to go. I’ve had a great deal of success in Long Island Sound by using a 3-way rig and eels at night. Once you have a location that holds fish, the rest is easy. It is the kind of fishing that with some simple instructions my grand mother could hook a fish…Landing it might be a different story.
A 3-way rig was the undoing of one of the heaviest bass ever landed, a 76-pounder caught on a reef at Montauk Point by Capt. Bob Rochetta. The fish is the second-heaviest striper ever recorded by the IGFA, passed only by a 78-pounder taken by Al McReynolds at a New Jersey jetty. The three-way rig was also with great success to catch fish from 55 to 70 pounds in bass-filled waters like Plum Gut, The Sluiceway, Valiant Rock and Sugar Reef, to name a few
For those that have
never seen a 3 way rig it is simple, really. 3-waying gets its name from a
3-way swivel, the rig's starting point. One swivel obviously goes to your
main line. The second is used for a dropper loop. A dropper loop is exactly
what it sounds like, a piece of line with a loop tied in it that is used to
attach a lead sinker
The sinker must be heavy enough to bounce on the bottom in a running tide.
In some cases, this might mean as little as 4 to 6 ounces of lead, while
other rips and reefs may require 16 to 20 ounces to keep the eel down in the
strike zone your drift. To the third
eye you tie on a 3 to 5 foot length of fluorocarbon leader material. The
gauge of the leader is debatable, some use heavier line when they fish
around hazards such as lobster pots. I prefer 50 Lb., I believe it is a good
balance between stealth and strength. There are plenty of snags when
3-waying eels, a good way to avoid losing a lot of rigs is to use a lighter
line for your dropper loop than the leader. This way you can snap the
dropper loop to free the rest of the rig from the boulders. For a main line,
I use 50 LB Whiplash. Using braided line has a couple of advantages. One is
that a braided line’s smaller diameter will offer less resistance as it
moves through the water, allowing you to use less weight to keep the eel in
the strike zone. Perhaps an even larger advantage is the abrasion resistance
that a true braid gives you. 50 LB Whiplash is made up of 8 strands and has
saved me many lost fish while fishing around boulders and bridges.
The best way to present the rig to a striper is on a reef. Is nothing but a hill underwater. The steeper the hill the better. Reefs are the perfect ambush point and act as funnels, concentrating all the bait scattered across the entire water column and squeezing it into much skinnier water as it flows over the crest. As the tide flows up the hill, it carries bait to stripers that have taken up feeding stations near the crest of the peak. The crest of a reef can be 20 or 120 feet deep, it’s not the depth that matters as much as funnel it offers. The rip line marks the approximate crest of any reef.
Once you have located the top of the reef, watch the fish finder and motor uptide from the reef. You may not be marking any fish, even some of the high end sounders have a hard time seeing fish holding tight to structure. I try to start in water that is about 20 feet deeper than the crest. Take the boat out of gear, drop your rig to the bottom. Once you are in contact with the bottom, the most important thing you can do is to keep the eel in the “zone”. I consider the zone to be 3 to 6 feet off the bottom. Try to keep the line as vertical as possible, add more weight if necessary and then drift back towards the crest of the reef. As you drift along, you will develop a feel for the sinker hitting the rocky bottom as the boat moves up the reef. When you hit bottom, crank the reel handle a couple of turns. This keeps snags to a minimum and the eel in the zone. The steeper the reef, the more often you will come in contact with the bottom as you drift uphill.
Watch your fish-finder, GPS, or landmarks onshore, for reference points when you hook a fish, you’re going to want to make the exact same drift again. Where there is one striper there will be more. Repeat the same drift time and time again, keeping your bait in the zone as much as possible.
Although stripers will most often be found on the uphill side, sometimes they will be stationed right on the crest or even on the downhill side. The bottom line is, you have to experiment to locate the fish. When the fish are holding on the downhill side, you must constantly adjust the depth of your eel by letting line out, contacting the bottom and reeling back up into the zone. In a fast rip, I will do this every 10 seconds or less. . The zone never changes…3 to 6 feet off the bottom
Circle hooks have made everyone’s life easier, most importantly the striper’s. In the three years that I have been using them, I have had one fish that was not hooked in the corner of the mouth, that fish was hooked in the roof of the mouth. I have had a much better hook up ratio and the eels stay on the hook better. There is no hook set necessary with circle hooks, simply take the slack out of the rod by reeling up or gently lifting the rod tip. I have hooked many fish while the rod was in the holder. If there is a down side to using circle hooks, I haven’t seen it yet. I prefer a #5 or 6 Gamakatsu circle hook.
The CCA is a strong proponent of the use of circle hooks. There have been numerous studies done on the low mortality of released fish caught on circle hooks. There is a very informative study that is posted under the “Articles” section on the CT chapters web site at www.ccact.org.
Those of us that have used eels before know of the dreaded “eel ball”, and just how nasty they can be. I keep my eels calm by placing them on ice as soon as I get to the boat. It works well and causes no long term affects, once they warm up again they will be as lively as ever. It is important to be able to allow the eel slime and melting ice to drain from your bucket so that they don’t drown. Some elect to use the “Shake and Bake” method by using a separate bucket full of sand and dropping a few as needed in the sand. Once they become covered, they are much easier to handle. Eel slime is a nasty substance and rag is needed for either method. Left over eels can be stored for long periods of time in either fresh or salt water as long as there is new water circulating through your container. I bought several dozen eels at once and used them over a three month period this year.
Your rod should be strong with a lot of backbone to steer the fish, yet sensitive to detect the subtle hits. In the hot summer months, the waters in Long Island Sound reach 70 degrees. Stripers do not handle the heat and lower oxygen levels well and it is best to end the fight quickly. When releasing a fish, it may take a minute or two to revive it. Hold the fish upright in the water and gently rock it back and forth to allow water to flow over the gills. If you have a partner in the boat, have him put the boat in gear and idle along with the fish. As the fish gains strength, you will notice that the pectoral fins come back out on plane and the dorsal fin will be fully erect. At this point the fish is ready to go. If I think that the fish could use a little help in getting back down to the cooler water, I pick the fish up out of the water and cradle it at waist level. Holding the fish at a forty five degree angle, let it slide from your hands back into the water. This will give a big fish some extra momentum to get it home.
3-waying eels for stripers is about as easy as it gets. You don’t have to be a pro and you don’t need a lot of expensive gear. Buy a simple chart for your area and locate the spots that have a dramatic change in depth. Your local tackle shop will also have the latest scoop on which spots are producing and when. Get out there……
